Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Support personnel arrived on scene.

While Haeseong briefed them on the situation, Sahyeon returned to Association headquarters.

After washing off the grimy blood in the shower room, what greeted him was......

"Mr. Sahyeon, you're out!"

A dramatically more deferential Haeseong.

A quivering voice. A waist bent in half. Arms pressed tight against his sides.

"...What is this, a back-alley gang boss greeting?"

Sahyeon looked down at the brown mop of hair with a sour expression.

'He saw my status window, so he must've figured out where I came from.'

I thought this meant I could finally move around on my own in peace, but......

'Why is he still following me?'

Haeseong, trembling like a puppy but stubbornly holding his ground.

Does he have an annoyingly strong sense of duty?

Sahyeon shook his head faintly and started walking.

Haeseong creaked upright and raised his head.

"...Oh! Mr. Sahyeon. Where are you going?"

"Association President's office."

At Sahyeon's reply, Haeseong fell briskly into step beside him.

"Ah! You're going to report. Let me contact the secretary."

It wasn't so much a report as something he needed to say, but never mind.

Sahyeon gave a half-hearted shrug and kept walking.

Haeseong tapped his phone a few times, then quietly informed Sahyeon.

"He's currently in a meeting with the Director of the Hunter Management Bureau. If you could wait just a—"

"Perfect timing."

Sahyeon answered decisively.

"Pardon?"

Just as Haeseong was blinking in confusion—

Sahyeon's feet stopped in front of the Association President's office.

"Wait—"

Before Haeseong could even finish—

Sahyeon turned the doorknob without a moment's hesitation.

The door swung open.

"—do you honestly think that's going to work?"

The office, where raised voices had been flowing.

Sahyeon's entrance brought an abrupt silence.

The Association President seated at the head. And a middle-aged man on the long sofa, veins bulging in his neck.

All eyes were on him.

'So that must be the Hunter Management Bureau Director.'

Sahyeon swept his gaze over them with indifference.

"It's been a while, young Sahyeon."

The Director was the first to speak.

"'Young'?"

The patronizing address — as if dredged up from some distant past — made Sahyeon's eyes crease with displeasure.

"Have we met before?"

"Ha. You really don't remember, do you?"

The Director let out a sharp, hollow laugh and shook his head.

The Association President smiled quietly, then turned to Sahyeon.

"Are you all right? Thank you — your quick response kept the damage to a minimum."

When the Association President spoke, the Director let out a loud scoff.

"Minimum? I hear a certain someone had a grand time tearing the place apart, and the whole area's been turned into a wasteland. Cars, buildings, every structure in the vicinity — demolished, is what they're telling me."

"Still better than demolishing people......"

Sahyeon muttered, hands in his pockets, and the Director let out an exasperated breath.

"I beg your pardon? Do you see how he speaks in front of a superior?"

The Director clicked his tongue and looked Sahyeon up and down.

"Who says you're my superior?"

When Sahyeon furrowed his brow in open displeasure, the Director turned to the Association President as if tattling.

"You see? No basic manners whatsoever. What on earth makes you think you can entrust anything to this person?"

I figured there'd be pushback about my return. Just didn't care enough to think about it.

After all, it was the Association President who'd dangled a deal to drag him out here in the first place.

The Director swiveled back toward the Association President and spoke.

"Mr. President. Surely you're not seriously considering reinstating the Interrogator? What happens if the hunters find out?"

The Director spoke with an anxious expression.

"If they learn that the person in that position is the Interrogator who tortured fellow hunters! Do you think they'll just sit quietly?"

"Pfft."

Sahyeon, who had been silently listening to the Director's rant, finally burst out laughing.

The Director ground his teeth and glared.

"What's so funny?"

"It is funny."

Sahyeon shot back, amusement still in his voice.

"That the Director is worried about the feelings of criminal scum."

"This is a national emergency! Every single hunter's strength is critical — don't you understand that? Dragging one person into the light could cost us other hunters!"

The Director shouted, jabbing his finger.

What a load of crap.

Sahyeon leaned deep into his chair and pulled one corner of his mouth up.

"Well, I suppose the ones who've committed crimes might not be too happy about it."

Especially the hunters with something to hide.

A sudden thought made Sahyeon let out a low exclamation.

"Ah. Could it be that you've got a guilty conscience too, Director? Is that why you're objecting?"

"......"

The Director's lips flapped open and shut.

Quivering eyelids. Breathing gone rapid with alarm.

Hit the mark, I see.

Sahyeon crossed his legs and wore a breezy smile.

"You might want to start living right. So we don't have to meet underground."

"That's not— how dare you—!"

The Director sputtered.

"Now, now. That's enough from both of you."

The mediator here was the Association President.

"I understand your concerns, Director."

He continued in a measured tone.

"I have no intention of publicly revealing that Sahyeon was the Interrogator. Sahyeon has agreed to that as well."

"I'll pass on things getting more annoying than they already are."

Sahyeon shrugged lightly.

Over the past five years, all manner of criminal hunters had passed through Sahyeon's hands.

There wasn't a single released inmate who didn't bear a grudge against him.

The Association President nodded in agreement.

"As you know, there's no combat personnel who can replace Sahyeon at this point."

But the Director wasn't backing down.

"No one to replace him? There are plenty of newly Awakened hunters from this Dungeon Break! Just send them!"

"You want to get them killed for nothing......"

Sahyeon said, twisting his lips.

Freshly Awakened individuals didn't know how to control their own power.

Sending them out like that — what kind of disaster was he asking for?

The Director flinched under Sahyeon's murderous gaze, but held his ground and muttered.

"Still, a loose cannon like you is worse than rookies......"

Nothing's changed.

'As expected, people like him don't learn until they've lived it firsthand.'

When Sahyeon ran his tongue across the inside of his cheek and began fingering his leather gloves, the Director gave a violent start.

"S-See! You see?! He doesn't hesitate to intimidate people! Can he even be controlled?!"

An overblown reaction from the Director.

I just want to control that mouth of his.

'Should I flip the table?'

Just as Sahyeon was seriously considering it—

"If any problems arise, you may hold me accountable."

The Association President said firmly.

A persistent gaze boring into his cheek.

When Sahyeon met his eyes, the Association President glanced meaningfully at his hand and smiled in silence.

The golden thread of the contract forged by the Association President's skill glimmered faintly.

"...And here I thought I was the one being threatened."

Sahyeon reluctantly made a show of taking his hands off his gloves.

Only then did the Director relax, putting on a dignified front by clasping his hands behind his back as he rose.

"...Ahem! Well then, out of respect for the Association President, I'll let this slide just this once."

He inched toward the door, left behind some face-saving line about keeping his eye on things, and disappeared.

Peace at last.

The Association President left a small sigh and turned his head.

"—I'm sorry you two had to see that. Called you in and then put on that kind of display."

"It's all right."

Haeseong answered in Sahyeon's place, since the man himself was sitting there looking sour.

"Haeseong already knows, but it's time Sahyeon heard it too. That's why I arranged for you both to be here."

He exhaled deeply and spoke slowly.

"Starting today, the two of you will be taking over the zone that Hunter Haje was responsible for."

"Zone?"

"Well......"

Haeseong swallowed once and began to explain.

"...It's a system of zones that was established about four years ago, when the Hunter Association's structure was formalized."

While Sahyeon had been underground.

The surface had been divided into three zones.

Each zone was managed by one of the three S-rank Hunters.

Hunter Baek Iwon covered the Central Defense Zone — the core region housing the government and Hunter Management headquarters.

Hunter Jo Seongwon, a defense-type Awakened, covered the Evacuation Zone — a region with relatively few monster appearances, designated for non-Awakened civilians.

"And Hunter Lee Haje...... was in charge of the Combat Zone."

Haeseong wet his lips and continued.

"The Combat Zone was a place where Sudden Gates appeared frequently, even before this Dungeon Break."

An area where Gates appeared with relative frequency, and where most monster suppression operations were conducted.

"Its danger level is extreme, so non-Awakened are barred from entry."

When Haeseong finished, the Association President added.

"If that zone falls, both the Central Zone and the Evacuation Zone are at risk. It's that important."

"No civilians, and plenty of room to break things. Sounds perfect."

Even better, actually.

If it was the zone Hunter Lee Haje had been responsible for, then it was likely where he'd died.

There, Sahyeon might find clues about the Awakened Rampage.

And about why Lee Haje had chosen death.

With the destination settled, Sahyeon was about to leave when—

"There's one more thing Haje was responsible for."

The Association President added with a smile.

"What now?"

Sahyeon stopped in his tracks, visibly annoyed.

Those eyes, creased in that calculating way — the look of a man with something up his sleeve.

The Association President parted his lips a beat late.

"Zone?"

"Adjunct professor."

"...What?"

"The curriculum Haje taught was live combat."

"......"

"The Hunter Academy is right next to the Combat Zone. You can manage the zone while stationed at the Academy. Take students out for field training now and then too."

What did I just hear?

"...You've got to be kidding me."

Sahyeon let out a laugh of pure disbelief.

So when they'd drawn up the contract and the Association President had been so insistent about the phrase "replacing Lee Haje" — this was why.

"You want me to train rookies?"

Maybe if it's mental conditioning.

"Hah......"

Haeseong's eyes wavered aimlessly at Sahyeon's wry addition.

"Don't tell me you didn't know, Mr. Sahyeon......?"

So this guy had known all along.

Struck speechless, Sahyeon pressed a hand to his forehead. The Association President, meanwhile, was perfectly composed.

"You know better than anyone, Sahyeon, that the best education for a hunter is field experience."

When Sahyeon responded only by narrowing his eyes, the Association President continued slowly.

"The sooner we develop these new hunters, the sooner we can suppress the Dungeon Break."

"......"

Sahyeon narrowed his eyes in silence.

If the pool of available personnel grew, it would mean more time for Sahyeon to focus on his own objectives.

Getting played by the Association President's scheme was infuriating. But there was no room to object.

Sahyeon let out a hollow breath.

"So this was your real goal from the start."

"I won't deny it."

The Association President conceded without hesitation.

He was clearly planning to wring every last drop out of him.

...Train new hunters?

"Damn it......"

Sahyeon let out a sigh of resignation.

He was about to be stuck playing teacher — something that had never been in the cards.